Had an offer accepted on my first house yesterday, got a meeting with my broker on Saturday to get the mortgage application in. Never bought before, I'm a mix of nerves, excitement and what the heck have I just done. We're trying to get together a list of things we'll need, can anyone suggest things we may not have thought about?
The nervous wait to exchange....
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Soldato
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Congrats, why not post your list and others can make suggestions that you don't already have noted.
Bearing in mind we’re currently living with parents and have a lot of things stored in the garage, off the top of my head we’ve got:
Bed x 2
Cot
Drawers
Wardrobe
T.v x 2
Plates
Cutlery
Glasses and mugs
Utensil
Various Pots and pans
Microwave
Air fryer
Washer/dryer
Table & chairs
We’ll need a sofa and one maybe two new wardrobes, I’m sure there’s are smaller things which I’ve not thought about.
7 days ago I told Yopa and their provided solicitors I am not selling the house and pulling out of the onward purchase. I've had no reply from anyone. This morning I've received a small sum of money in my bank account from the solicitors. Good job so far.
Soldato
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Even just basic stuff does add up doesn't it? IKEA can sort out a few bits probably, PAX wardrobe for instance is pretty popular. Kallax for cube shelving if you wanted any.
Don't forget stuff like cleaning supplies though, if it's not a new build you'll probably want a good clean! in fact maybe even if it is new build!
Soldato
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We've seen a lovely house we both like, and would be great to avoid the stamp duty....only problem its outside the school catchment area 
You've got no hope of completing before Stamp Duty holiday unless it's an extremely simple chain and the solicitors are extremely good. But you're still bound to external factors, such as their solicitors, councils, land registry etc.We've seen a lovely house we both like, and would be great to avoid the stamp duty....only problem its outside the school catchment area
After 5 months the people we are buying from have found a new property and have had an offer accepted (no chain as a bonus) so full steam ahead now!! The house is in good standard and don't appear to be any obvious issues, pretty standard 3 bed house with a small extension on the rear
Just had a question on if we should get a homebuyers report, what are peoples opinions on these?
Just had a question on if we should get a homebuyers report, what are peoples opinions on these?
I wouldn't bother.
Even with the extension?
We're under offering and trying to get an offer accepted at the moment, and it did cross my mind that the reason furniture and sofa is so commonly taken on finance is people use all their budget on the house and sort of forget they need to furnish it once they've got it. You've done well to consider the cost of all of those I'd say.
When I read your previous post I thought you were referring to things like survey costs and appointing solicitors etc.
When I read your previous post I thought you were referring to things like survey costs and appointing solicitors etc.
Get a proper builder to look at it if you have concerns.
Depends on both the property, and your personal ability to assess areas of potential concern.
A homebuyer's report will only give you an indication of any issues. If you know a bit about problem areas to look at, and feel confident you can at least spot something that doesn't look good, then feel free to not get a survey. But a surveyor is also a fully qualified, trained pair of eyes looking at you likely several hundred thousand pound purchase. For the cost of c. £500, I personally feel this relatively small amount is worth paying to get a second opinion, even if you do know what you're looking at. We're likely talking 0.3% of your purchase price to get an indication as to its current condition.
I have just cancelled the one I had booked for the property I am buying, my dad is a builder however so not buying it completely blind. He has been round it a couple times.
For me, all the ones I looked at seemed to just be quite vague with what they would actually check and especially with COVID etc I just felt they will be even less hands on than before if that makes sense.
On a sample report I received from a surveyors it stated a few things that I just read and thought what is the point e.g. they won't go out of their way to move things in cupboards, wont lift carpet or floorboards (Understandable to not rip apart someones house of course but still), they won't go in the loft unless it meets certain expectations of accessibility, they will only check the roof and guttering etc from a far with binoculars and so on.
If my dad wasn't in this industry I would have done one because as has been said, a few hundred quid is worth the peace of mind but my dad has checked it over twice and I put more weight in his views then a surveyor in all honesty. There is mixed reviews all over the web, plenty of had great surveyors who have saved them potentially thousands or others have had people who haven't cared less and just signed it off.
Congrats on getting the offer accepted, myself and girlfriend are about one month into the process ourselves. We are living at my parents at the moment and all I will be taking is my computer stuff and mattress from my room, that list is pretty good starting base and is basically the same as what we have on ours.
We have started picking up bits and pieces and storing them in the garage, got some great bargains on eBay and Gumtree. We made a list of stuff we needed then put a budget next to it, an example I can think of is that we budgeted about £500 for a new bed frame, ended up finding the perfect one on eBay for £50. We have seen plenty of 'outlet' stores on eBay also that sell branded furniture that might be a return or a few marks on for great prices so we are going to wait till we move in and then see what is around, potentially huge savings on sofas etc. We are just going to sit in garden chairs in the living room till it arrives rather than get it shipped to my parents and have to take it with us.
I would say your list is already pretty good, id move in, unpack all of that stuff and 'live' in the house for a day or two and then you will realise what you need/dont need.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
(y) Don't forgot tea/coffee/cleaning kit. You'll probably need a basic tool kit as well.
I was also really annoyed I didn't have the right fly lead for the TV antenna - male/female annoyance. Might want to get one from screwfix for a couple of quid.
Soldato
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How old is the property?
Agreed, home buyer surveys are not great, mostly very vague and non committal these days.
Have a look on the RICS website, find an experienced chartered independent local surveyor and go direct to them. The good ones will do a full detailed survey spending 1/2 day at the property.
You can normally get the semi-retired career experienced surveyors for £400-£550. They should pick up on roof, brick/structural, damp, heating/plumbing, drainage and subsidence issues. They are also happy to spend time chatting everything through with you.
If you have concerns though you are better off taking a builder with you and/or structural engineer depending on severity.
It's worth having an electrician undertake a current EICR for the house and appliances / consumer RCD unit. Electricians are pretty busy at the moment but they like these as easy money and can normally fit them in.
The vendor should pay for a current boiler service/gas safe certificate but this doesn't guarantee there won't be issues.
The vendor should provide EICs for any hard wirded electrical appliances installed or circuits altered in the last few years.